MF Xcans V3: Fully Pinkfloyded

[choariwap]

hi all,

it's been the textbook head-fi story. i came here looking for reviews on the er6i, but ended up a lot poorer with a new hobby. long story short, after 3 months, i now have an hd650, a k1000 and a super.fi 5 pro. thats a lot of cash!

Anyway, i just completed my hd650 rig, which consists of an audiophile USB fed by foobar ASIO into a musical fidelity xcans v3. I just finished modding my xcans, pinkfloyd style and put in some Cryo's 6h23-eb tubes.

I've not been in this hobby very long so i dont have much to compare against. anyway, here's what i think of the MF Xcans:
1. Stock vs old sony stereo component headphone out (for shame!)
- this is the only time i will describe as night and day. better in all counts, soundstage, bass impact, no noise etc. no contest.
2. MF Xcans vs Modded Mf Xcans:
- not night and day, but still a pretty significant change. more like 7AM to 12NN to abuse the figure of speech. The sound is richer, bigger and more detailed. bass is improved, more controlled. it's well worth the price of the mod kit (55 gbp over at rockgrotto). no veil here. its also a very nice first project to learn how to solder, easy but with enough things to do so you get a good workout. it also drives the k1000s decently, you'll have to use some EQ to get good bass though.
3. Modded Xcans vs Modded Xcans with Cryo 6h23-eb
- less difference than from modding. sound is better, but hard to describe because it is subtle. also hard to compare as tube rolling the xcan isnt exactly quick enough for short term memory.

if you're looking for an affordable amp for senns, MF xcans is a good choice. its easily upgradeable, mike (pinkfloyd) is a great guy to work with and knows how to squeeze the last bit of performance from the amp.

that's it, just wanted to share, time for some more music

 

[Zommaz]

Interesting to hear about your experience with the mod and tubes, since I've ordered an upgrade kit for myself. Looking forward to getting down to business with my iron.

 

[Gradofan2]

Ditto!

The XCAN v3 is great with Senns and Grados... but way better after the PinkFloyd mod - extended, fast, tight, well-defined bass; warm, full, liquid well-defined mids; extended, clear, detailed, smooth highs - with great tone body, texture, weight and impact, and a well defined soundstage - with a bit of tube warmth and magic, but more precise than more euphonic all tube SET and OTL amps.

I completed mine about 2 weeks ago, with the same outcome. It's inexpensive (about $100 USD for the caps, and $150 USD with caps and tubes), easy to complete for a novice (who's confident and handy), and makes a big improvement to an already great amp. So... for $400-$450 total you have an amp that rivals much more expensive amps.

I would try the Reflector/Saratov 6H23N-EB tube upgrade before completing the cap mods - to see what kind of improvement it imparts by itself. It's somewhat difficult to discern after the cap mods... although the combination seems to be improving a lot with burn in.

The PinkFloyd XCAN v3 is everything you'd want in an amp for either Senns, or Grados - it really wakes up the Senns and controls the Grado's highs.

GF2

 

[mrarroyo]

YES, YES, YES, ...

 

[robm321]

I picked this up yesterday:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....ube&1156537506

I was blown away by the way my Senn 600 w/Cardas sounded out of my Sony XA777ES. I usually don't feel that way with upgrades, but this is really a great amp that works for my taste. (I like a middle ground between tube and SS)

It's good to know that a significant upgrade will help. I will no doubt get the mod, but not until I get used to it's unmodded sound first.

The tubes I got with it are pretty amazing. The bass is tighter than my Gilmore Lite which I didn't expect at all.

Anyway, thanks for the impressions - it came at a good time for me.

 

[Gradofan2]

My PinkFloyd modded XCAN v3 just keeps getting better and better with my HD650's and RS-1's - it's really hard to believe!

But... I can't decide, which I like better with it - the HD650's with their big, bold , driving... yet, refined, and detailed sound - or the RS1's with their clear, crisp, precise, detailed... yet warm, dynamic, punchy bass and mids sound.

Ramsey Lewis, Dianna Krall, and Diane Reeves never sounded better!

GF2

 

[BennyBoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by choariwap hi all, it's been the textbook head-fi story. i came here looking for reviews on the er6i, but ended up a lot poorer with a new hobby. long story short, after 3 months, i now have an hd650, a k1000 and a super.fi 5 pro. thats a lot of cash! Anyway, i just completed my hd650 rig, which consists of an audiophile USB fed by foobar ASIO into a musical fidelity xcans v3. I just finished modding my xcans, pinkfloyd style and put in some Cryo's 6h23-eb tubes. I've not been in this hobby very long so i dont have much to compare against. anyway, here's what i think of the MF Xcans: 1. Stock vs old sony stereo component headphone out (for shame!) - this is the only time i will describe as night and day. better in all counts, soundstage, bass impact, no noise etc. no contest. 2. MF Xcans vs Modded Mf Xcans: - not night and day, but still a pretty significant change. more like 7AM to 12NN to abuse the figure of speech. The sound is richer, bigger and more detailed. bass is improved, more controlled. it's well worth the price of the mod kit (55 gbp over at rockgrotto). no veil here. its also a very nice first project to learn how to solder, easy but with enough things to do so you get a good workout. it also drives the k1000s decently, you'll have to use some EQ to get good bass though. 3. Modded Xcans vs Modded Xcans with Cryo 6h23-eb - less difference than from modding. sound is better, but hard to describe because it is subtle. also hard to compare as tube rolling the xcan isnt exactly quick enough for short term memory. if you're looking for an affordable amp for senns, MF xcans is a good choice. its easily upgradeable, mike (pinkfloyd) is a great guy to work with and knows how to squeeze the last bit of performance from the amp. that's it, just wanted to share, time for some more music

I've been wanting to do the Pink mod for a little while but I cant seem to see the logic in forkin up $80. for $20. worth of parts. I would pay him $5. for a pdf of his instruction/part list.

 

[Zommaz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BennyBoy I would pay him $5. for a pdf of his instruction/part list.

You should do that. Good thinking.

But sometimes I eat out; sometimes I prefer the luxury of having it served on a platter ready to go.

Burnin' in the mod as I speak(write). Looks(sounds) good

 

[3lusiv3]

Pinkfloyded

 

[Gradofan2]

Hey... you're right... if, you know what you're doing, and have done it before.

Unfortunately, I didn't and hadn't... so, I was willing to pay the premium to have someone walk me through it.

But... I seriously considered just buying the parts from Partsconnexion, or DigiKey and DIYing it.

And... I got the results... which were well worth it.

GF2

 

[robm321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BennyBoy I've been wanting to do the Pink mod for a little while but I cant seem to see the logic in forkin up $80. for $20. worth of parts. I would pay him $5. for a pdf of his instruction/part list.

So, changing caps and components is pretty straight forward (just solder them). Is there anything that makes the walkthrough something necessary for those that have soldered before?

 

[Gradofan2]

I don't think so.

If you can follow the information on the Rock-Grotto web site carefully enough, and you are fairly confident in desoldering the old caps and soldering the new caps, I doubt you'll have any problems.

Just be careful to make sure you're replacing the right caps with the right caps, and that you've got any polar caps aligned properly with the polarity of their circuits, and that you're neat with the solder - that's about it.

I wouldn't worry about any "bypass" caps on the bottom of the board - just forget those. And... of course you'll need to find the heat sinks for the FET's to keep it running cool. And... you'll have some difficulty in finding the 1000 uF SunTan output caps, you may just have to substitute similar Panasonics, or some others.

It's quite simple actually.

As I said... I've never touched a soldering iron before, and "have no clue" about what I was doing. So... I thought I'd rather have PinkFloyd's "guiding hand" - which was helpful for me... a novice.

GF2

 

[mrarroyo]

Have you all seen: http://www.rock-grotto.co.uk/v3upgradekit.html

 

[robm321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gradofan2 I don't think so. If you can follow the information on the Rock-Grotto web site carefully enough, and you are fairly confident in desoldering the old caps and soldering the new caps, I doubt you'll have any problems. Just be careful to make sure you're replacing the right caps with the right caps, and that you've got any polar caps aligned properly with the polarity of their circuits, and that you're neat with the solder - that's about it. I wouldn't worry about any "bypass" caps on the bottom of the board - just forget those. And... of course you'll need to find the heat sinks for the FET's to keep it running cool. And... you'll have some difficulty in finding the 1000 uF SunTan output caps, you may just have to substitute similar Panasonics, or some others. It's quite simple actually. As I said... I've never touched a soldering iron before, and "have no clue" about what I was doing. So... I thought I'd rather have PinkFloyd's "guiding hand" - which was helpful for me... a novice. GF2

Thanks for the information!

I don't think it's a bad idea at all to get the walkthrough - I'll upgrade soon. I'm looking forward to it actually.